My 1981 28' S2 has been in the Bahamas for 3 years now and is also now registered there. When I took her there (Marsh Harbor, Abacos), my business was doing well and I thought I'd be able to get there a lot to sail. That has not happed and I only get there maybe 3x a year so she sits unhappily on the hard in the boat yard costing me a lot.
I've offered to allow my sailing friends to use her but all of my sailing friends have considerably higher standards of comfort than I do and want bizarre things like shore power (Why?) and real marine heads (I like the porta-potti) or gas stoves, (sterno cans in the burner wells of the old pressurized alcohol stove work well) or they don't like the fact that sitting on my boat leaves any dark clothing with white chalk. I think a rowing dinghy is great while they want an outboard, etc, etc.
The only people who think my boat is great are my caving friends whose standard of comfort is that the mud they are sleeping in not be too cold. While they are happy to sail her, very few of em know much about sailing as they tend to stay out of sunlight.
So, having her in Marsh harbor was "OK" until recently when my wife found out what it is costing me. In reality, it isnt much compared to most places. Monthly average is about $350/month for recurring expenses (storage is $10/ft/m, about 10/m for putting in Damp Rid, a charge for pumping the bilge every so often etc.). However, this is a fortune compared to most N. W. FL redneck docks whose average customer is an oyster boat.
So, what should I do? I could bring her home but I am likely to never take her there again and I'd lose my $1000 it cost me to register her there permanently. Chartering her out is out of the question as bringing her up to comfort standards of the rest of the world would take too much money. I could probably sell her there as she is registered there and is truly the perfect Bahamas boat but I love my boat.
Any ideas?

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Only kidding, obviously. If I were in your position I think the deciding factor for me would be to determine where I am realistically more likely to sail the boat most often. Ask yourself if having the boat in Florida would mean that you, and hopefully your wife, will get out and sail.

For what you pay monthly to keep it in the Bahamas I paid roughly the same to keep my 31 ft boat at a rather nice marina in north west Florida where there was very good sailing all year, convenient enough to go out for a couple hours after work. Plus having it at a nice marina got my wife out more than she would otherwise just because of the nice restrooms, swimming pool, etc.

So you like to vacation in the Bahamas and you're spending four or five grand a year in order to do that on a boat comparable to camping in the mud. Presumably alone and without the wife?

Dump the boat, four or five grand a year should be able to buy you some charter time on something way nicer. It really doesn't sound like the boat is worth much, maybe you can "donate" it to some group and reserve the right to borrow it back for a week twice a year. But from what you say, and not knowing how much time you spend on it, it sounds like you're just throwing good money after bad at this point. Sometimes, cutting the losses is all you can do.

Frogster... I wish I was ready to spend some time in the Bahamas - would love to rent your boat for at least a couple of weeks.
As to your dillema...
General cosmic principle is: Use it, or Lose it.
If you can't use the boat enough to justify the expense - sell it, even if it means losing some money. Throwing good money after the bad is not smart.

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